LS 75Q inflated UK prices

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bobw

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Spotted a LS 75Q in Guitar Village (UK seee website) asking ?999 !!!. when I queried the price he stated it was due to the solid quilt maple top, to which I replied that I believed it to be a veneer and that they usually retail around ?749. His response - well don't buy it then! It doesn't even have the 'correct' headstock shape.
Has anyone else come across this apparent overpricing (other than some silly Wizard prices)?

It makes the Korean Loverock plaintop they had in stock at ?399 appear good value with 'correct' headstock.

BobW
 
Well, it just doesnt seem to be with you. In the states my brother has an eye out for Tokai's in used guiter shops, and they are priced just as high.

On ebay, good deals are hard to find. You are almost better off going to Guitar Universe and buying a new one.

Seems as though the times are behind to find a tokai for a reasonable price. Just a year ago, it seemed like you couldnt go wrong they were priced so reasonably. Now, I have a hard time imagining dishing out the money for any of the midrange guitars, considering i bought an LS-200 for $1500 shipped.

It's all about making money.

Dana
 
It's just my humble opinion, but I feel that the Guitar Village guy is the Village Idiot!
I have contacted the U.K. distributor for Tokai guitars at his music store through an e-mail, and simply and pleasantly asked what his discount price was for an LS85Q with the true Gibson headstock. My reply from him was rude, pompous and self-serving. He said that Tokais are worth the list price and he didn't give discounts. This jerk had the guitar listed at a premium price, about $300 above full retail price at least. The customer was not only paying for the guitar, he was paying for the shipping, the import duty, and a profit on top of that as well, in addition to the retail profit, which is the difference between what the dealer paid Tokai for the guitars and what he would sell it for to the public at full retail.
After seeing these clowns with their wise-*** attitudes, I went directly to Japan and bought an LS85Q from a Japanese retailer of the guitars made just for the Japanese market. Not only was I given a discount, but I got a new Tokai at a lower price then the ebay used ones.

By the by, all new Tokai Les Paul Love Rocks with a model number under the LS200 have laminated tops. This means that the flamed tops are Sycamore laminated to a rock maple core, and the quilted tops are quilted maple laminated to a rock maple core.
The LS200, LS220Q and LS 320 are the only Tokai models with solid maple tops non laminated and figured.

The LS75 Tokai has a solid maple top BUT that guitar has no figure on it and the maple used for that top although solid, is usually made from maple grown in hotter climates where the trees grow faster. Hence the yearly grain lines are farther apart then the high-end models where the grain lines are closer together indicating that the trees used for these tops were grown in a cold climate. Actually, the high-end Tokai guitars use Eastern North American hard rock maple tops, which are figured.
While the quilted top laminated LS85Q uses a veneer, that wood comes from the west coast of North America and is called "broadleaf maple".
The sycamore, to be flamed, must also be grown in a colder climate...probably North America as well.

Those of you in the U.K. that are looking for correct Gibson headstock shaped Tokais might best be served by finding a Japanese dealer and ordering it yourself, direct. You will still have to pay the shipping, import duty, etc., but at least you will get the discount up front which will save you some money and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that U.K. dealers who like to charge premium prices for their Tokais did not get more of your hard-earned money then you had to spend to get just what you want! Let these pompous, self-effacing misers with bad attitudes eat their stock and have to sit on it. They may eventually come around to your way of thinking and show you some respect. And if not, well, you'll still have the Tokai you wanted without having to pay more then list price, or suffering their insults and attitudes!
 
I havn't got a good thing to say about UK guitar dealers - a couple of true tales:

I bought a 'new' epiphone acoustic from a shop in Leicester a few years back - guitar seemed ok - when I took it back to sell it a couple of years later it was pointed out to me that the nut had been modified so it could be played left handed - not by me and i'd hardly played it and not noticed. I pointed out that I'd been sold the guitar in that condition as new by them and I agressively told to get out of the shop even though though I was about to spend over ?400 with my guitar as part exchange - they lost a good customer - and a few more as I warned every other played I knew not to buy from there.

I was in a large music shop in Birmingham recently - used to be Musical Exchange not sure what it's called now. Anyhoow the manager was discussing a customer who was about to bring in a rare Gibson double cut that was in mint unplayed condition to sell - he tells his underling to offer no more than ?3000 for it - I wanted to see what the guitar was so hung around for a while - this old guy walks in and uncases a double cut les paul that is indeed mint and minty green with gold hardware - they ask how much he wants for it - the seller promptly tells them that he has no idea as he doesn't know a lot about guitars - the manager then offers him ?700 for it and the deal is done - the seller well and truly done over. :roll:

This is the same shop that offered to buy an early Jap Epiphone off me for ?25 on the same visit - I sold it on Ebay for ?220.

They have Tokais too in their flash showroom - as pricy as guitar Village - I'm sticking with Ebay.
 
:eek: The best deals these kinda shops give are at their "Going Out Of Biz" sale! Like at Mars Music! Ha ha ha! TG :wink:
 
Sound off time,

Don't worry about the rude sales assistant type. I mean what d?ya expect from someone working in a music shop in the UK these days (or B&Q come to think of it). I try and keep out of the places myself.

And I don?t like they way they refer to us all as ?Punters? either, so that?s why I refer to them as ?Wankers? as most of them are.

Buy used and save money man! :)
 
Despite my earlier reply smaller Uk shops tend to be ok on the whole - prices are always higher than other countries but we always have that problem - one place I,ve never bought from is Andy's Guitars in London - love the shop, hate the prices.
 
was in andy's the other day looking for a ricky 12 with a friend...managed to sneak a look at the new trade prices over the salesmans shoulder....?900 for a ricky 12 ...they were selling for ?2300!!!! :-? ....we found a better one at Angel guitars for ?1600 eventually....(lovely beast btw, a tom petty sig model) 8)
 
Good shops bad shops,

I don't think it's fair to tar all shops with the same brush, I've got 3 in my area:
One is the old style dig around in dusty corners to find a bargain.
One is a high end only guitar shop.
One is the newer 'mail order' style.

The new one is where you get the bad attitude stuff - the staff are totally up themselves, I guess that's what comes from failing all your exams and ending up behind a till.

The other two are run by guys who play and just love guitars needless to say they treat the customers fair and square and are willing to lose money correcting a cock up.

Just stick to the good shops - easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Oh and bad news for UK Tokai Love Rock lovers, the headstocks on UK imports have all gone over to a new style - the G888son moustache has an extra 'bobble' in the middle. It's quite subtle and took me a little while to pick up on but as usual once you know it's there it's like a sore thumb.

Looks like the accurate imports are over again for a while :(

GB
 
Hi All,

Just thought I?d put in a bad word for Richmond Music Centre at 16 Red Lion St. Richmond Surrey. Positively the worst experience I?ve ever had in any sort of shop anywhere in my life.

I was the only customer in the shop. But the entire time (5 min.), the girl leaning on the counter couldn?t even be bothered to look up from her copy of Hello. And the guy slumped at the back of the shop, only spoke when I finally called over to him to ask about a bunch of Tele?s on a revolving stand; to which he just mumbled the reply ?only what?s there mate, nothing else?. In the end I just walked out, again without either of them even bothering to look up :evil: .

I got back in the car, drove 5 min. down the road to Chandler?s in Kew, and bought a new Fender Tele within 10 min. flat (and Chandler?s were full of customers!).

Ian.
 
i think most music shops seem to lack basic business knowhow, the majority of them have terrible customer service.
 
Two I can recommend from experience are S&J Music in Lichfield Staffs (near the Cathedral - good second hand selection and a Gordon Smith stockist) & Intersound on Narborough Road in Leicester so if you're passing through either town...
 

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